BVU, Grain Millers Establish Strategic Partnership
Collaboration with Buena Vista University provides educational benefits to Grain Millers employees and eligible family members.
Buena Vista University (BVU) and Grain Millers have joined forces as Strategic Partners to help strengthen their communities and the region.
This partnership allows for employees of Grain Millers, as well as eligible family members of full-time employees, to receive grant funding to lower the overall cost of education while enrolled in classes at BVU’s Storm Lake campus. Partner grant funding also lowers the cost per credit hour for students enrolled in BVU’s convenient online/hybrid undergraduate programs or the organizational leadership graduate program.
“Collaborating with Buena Vista University through this Strategic Partnership is an added benefit for our employees and their family members to increase their knowledge base and decrease the cost of higher education.”
Grain Millers Human Resources Manager Melissa Edgington.
“Collaborating with Buena Vista University through this Strategic Partnership is an added benefit for our employees and their family members to increase their knowledge base and decrease the cost of higher education,” says Grain Millers Human Resources Manager Melissa Edgington.
Since its inception as a small oat milling company in Oregon in 1986, Grain Millers has grown to become a leading international agribusiness with diversified interests in whole grain manufacturing and merchandising, organic and conventional consumer food products, and the import and export of commodities.
Headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minn., Grain Millers spans five U.S. states, including Iowa—with a location in St. Ansgar—Indiana, Minnesota, Oregon, and Wisconsin, and two Canadian provinces. The company, which employs about 900 people aims “to make good things for and with good people.”
“Attending BVU’s Online & Hybrid program allowed me to be able to work full time to support my family and still achieve my college degree,” says Grain Millers Recruiter and Employee Experience Manager Ben Walk, who received his bachelor’s degree in business management and human resources from BVU’s Mason City site in 2015.
BVU has long enjoyed strong educational ties in and around Mason City, home to North Iowa Area Community College, a campus that has collaborated with BVU for decades. Students enrolled in a program through NIACC can seamlessly transfer their credits toward their bachelor’s degree at BVU. Students receive personalized support including admissions and enrollment counseling and academic advising right in Mason City through BVU’s office on the NIACC campus.
“Buena Vista University is excited to offer educational benefits to Grain Millers’ employees and their family members through our Strategic Partnerships initiative,” says BVU Director of Strategic Partnerships Laura Todd. “Together, we can strengthen the workforce and build a better future for our communities and the greater region.”
For more information about BVU’s Strategic Partnerships and partner opportunities, please visit the BVU website at bvu.edu/strategic-partnerships or contact Strategic Partnerships at StrategicPartnerships@bvu.edu.